PONZIO PILATO NELLA CHIESA ANTICA TRA STORIA, ARTE E LEGGENDA: IL CODEX PURPUREUS ROSSANENSIS

Abstract

The sources about Pontius Pilate, the prefect of Judea who scrutinised Jesus, and, granting the request by the Jews, let him to be crucified, are poor and fragmentary. A part from a few references by Philo of Alexandria and Joseph Flavius, Pilate is mentioned in an inscription of the 1 st century, and by the Fathers of the Church who, despite some differences, concordantly point out his weakness and his scarce determination in the fulfilment of his own role. Beginning from the 2 nd century, Pilate becomes one of the actors in a long series of 'apocriphal' texts (Gospels, Acts, Letters), wavering between exculpation and condemnation. In the 4 th century, in the celebration of the triumph of Christianity over Paganism, Pilate enters the imagery of the "sarcophagi with passion scenes", and the Council of Costantinople introduces his name in the Credo ("passus sub Pontio Pilato") beside the mention of the Virgin and the article of faith in the Holy Spirit. The 5 th century sees the introduction of the image of Pilate in the repertoire of mosaicists and enluminures. One of the most important and solemn representations of Pilate is contained in the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis, a Gospel written and illuminated in a Syriac milieu (6 th century). Here we see the prefect of Judea in the exercise of his judicial duties and with the symbols of his power as a representative of the emperor. In this manuscript, Pilate is the protagonist of two pictures that, thanks to their size, their form and their wealth of details, represent the most refined example in the iconography of Pilate in the ancient Christian art.